Our Join In Programme caters for children aged 7 to 16 and has been specifically developed to help parents and children practice social and friendship skills together.
Running over 10 sessions, parents and children start each session together with a shared activity then work separately before ending the session with a shared activity again. The 10th session is an individual session for each family to discuss development and feedback.
Parents gain knowledge for our experienced team and other parents, while children gain social and friendship skills to better interact at school and in the community.
Goals for the children
Have the social skills necessary for relationships, especially with peers and friends
Have a proper understanding of your own and other people’s feelings and behaviour
Know about your own potential (I am unique, what am I good at?)
Know how to become and stay friends and overcome problems
Goals for the parents
Know how to advise/help their child in positive relationships with peers
Know how to help their child with emotions and how to deal with them in a proper way
Are able to make use of the knowledge of other parents by sharing information, tricks and tips with each other
To apply
To apply to be part of a group please email your names, age of child, contact details and your reasons for wanting to join the group to enquiry@autism.org.nz
Parent feedback from Teenager Social Skills Group
Just some feedback re the Teenager social skills group. It seems to have had a significant positive impact on [my son] – it showed him that even if things at first appear extremely daunting, they can actually turn out great. It seems to have given him an increased confidence, and a bit of peace with himself – that he is okay & can actually get along with a group of other teenagers.
I know for him group-work at school has always been very challenging – he has his own very fixed ideas (his own very specific ‘train tracks’ he wants to follow) and doesn’t understand that others can have another equally valid alternative opinion. The consistent feedback from schools to me has always been that he struggles to work with others – so much so that now I just think “Well, that is how it is” and just deal with other things that I think I can make better! I know that in previous years this underlying difficulty has sometimes verged on bullying at school for him.
So, what an empowering experience the social group was. Even after week one he was really looking forward to the next week, and this coming from a teenager who it is often hard to motivate to do much out of the home at all. I had anticipated that I would need continual bribes to get him there each week – which I didn’t actually need to keep up with, apart from the fact that I had given that promise to him (so I was out of pocket each week – but an invaluable investment from my perspective) He has built some really neat connections with the others, and I know that they have been texting each other at various times since the formal sessions ended.
The group environment was so secure & friendly – amongst everyone there – and it was down to the people who were leading & helping out from your organisation. A massive thanks also to Sacha who really had a great connection with the kids – you could tell that they trusted & respected her (two massively important things that showed that these aspie kids were in a brilliant environment for learning & building comradeship).
